What is crowdfunding?

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Get your project funded by your local community, by running a targeted online crowdfunding campaign.

Rather than asking one donor for a large investment, crowdfunding asks a large crowd of donors to each make a small contribution. This method of fundraising should be especially effective for schools, given that you have a ready-made network of people in your community – parents, governors, suppliers and business owners – who have a vested interest in seeing your project succeed!

How can FundEd help?

The benefits of a well-managed crowdfunding campaign go far beyond the extra funds in your bank... Crowdfunding helps raise awareness of your school's vision, opens doors to new opportunities and partnerships, and increases your support base for future appeals.

The FundEd team are working closely with the online giving experts at JustGiving to provide targeted guidance and advice. JustGiving has launched a new 'Campaigns' platform, which makes it easier than ever for schools to raise funds for a specific project. The START plan provides a risk-free introduction to online fundraising. Collect donations online or via text, and add buttons to your website to encourage visitors to give.

One of the benefits of JustGiving's Campaign's platform is how easy it is to turn all your stakeholders – teachers, students, parents and members of the wider community – into fundraisers! They simply visit your campaign page, then click a button that allows them to support you. They can then create their own JustGiving fundraising pages, explain why your campaign is important to them, and share this with their friends and family.

You can also add money that you raise offline, for example through PTA events of community grants, so that all your fundraising is in one place to be seen by all your supporters. And, if your school is eligible to claim Gift Aid, JustGiving makes it easy to process your claim by capturing all the donors' details.

Our guides

We've created a guide to take you through every step of the crowdfunding journey:

The Crowdfunding Handbook – From preparing your project to thanking donors, this guide gives an overview of all the steps to consider.

Promoting Your Campaign – Identify your support base, and develop a marketing strategy to take you from pre-launch to the final push.

Lewis Clayton, Account Director at Hubbub told us: 'We would encourage schools to start off with a project that has the potential to engage a wide base of supporters. As crowdfunding puts your project in front of everyone, if it fails to achieve its target, it can do so publicly. If you think your project might be a challenge, do some offline fundraising before you go live. The litmus test for the viability of a project is whether you can name five people who you know would immediately pledge. Aim to get commitment from a number of people who will add their donation as soon as the project launches. Once you have some pledges, more will naturally follow.'

Get in touch

If you'd like to discuss your project with the FundEd team, give us a call on 01342 821336 or email nikki.burch@funded.org.uk.